Wood-planing machine



(No Model.)

A. R. WELLS.

WOQDPLANINGMAGH-INE. No. 247,788.

. Patented Oct. 4.1881.

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UNITED STATES rPATENT OFFICE.

ASA R. WELLS, OF SAN FRANCISUO, CALIFORNIA.

WOOD-PLANING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 247,788, dated October 4, 1881.

Application filed June 22, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ASA R. VELLS, of the city and county of San Francisco, in the State of California, have invented certain new and usefulImprovementsinPlaning-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Planing-machineshave heretofore beenmade with a single pair of uprights, to which the cutter-head and the various attachments for guiding and holding the lumber were secured. In the manufacture of these machines the height of the standards was regulated according to the maximum thickness of the timbers the machine was intended to plane, and the cost of the machines was increased in proportion to their capacity in this respect.

The planing-machine most usually employed in wood-working factories and shops is capable of planing timbers up to about twelve to sixteen inches only in thickness, because it is seldom that timbers of -larger size require to be planed, and,besides increased iirst cost, the large machine is a constant consumer of extra power. It would not, therefore, pay to keep on hand one of the larger and more costly machines merely for doing this work.

My invention relates to a simple and inexpensive attachment to the medium-sized planing-machine above referred to, by means of which timbers ot' any desired size can be planed upon the same machine, all as herein-Y after more fully specified.

Referring rto the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of the frame of the machine, showing the manner of applying my invention to planing timbers of themediumsize. Fig.2showsthesameadapted to plane large-sized timbers. Fig. 3 is a crosssection through the line w, Fig. 2.

Let A represent the bed or frame of an ordinary planing-machine, such as is used in wood-working mills, factories, and shops'for planing boards and timbers up to any prescribed thickness.

B represents one of the standards to which the cutter-head Gand other attachments are secured. There are two ofthese standards,

each side of the machine.

one on each side of the machine, so as to form a pair, andthe cutter-head extends across from one to the other. In the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2, only one of these standards can be seen.

D is the carriage on which the `board or timber is carried along under and against the cutter-head, and F is the pulley from which the cutter-head is driven by the belt G.

As above stated, the cutter-head C` can be adjusted on the standards B to plane boards and timbers up to a specified maximum thickness; but if the timber should exceed this limit in thickness, the machine would be incapable of planing it, were it not for the attachment that I have added to it. This attachment consists of a pair of supplemental standards, H, of greater height than the standards B, one on These standards are secured to the frame or bed A of the machine on the side ot' the driving-pulley E opposite that on which the standards B are secured, and at a nearly-equal distance from the driving-pulley. Ihe manner of attaching these supplemental standards is immaterial, so long as theyare firm and rigid; but in practice I secure their lower ends to the bed A, while their upper ends are attached to and braced from the ceiling, or from a cross-beam overhead, which forms a part of the mill structure. 'Ihis gives additional steadiness tothe planing-machine. In these supplemental uprightsI form seatsK at the desired height,in which the ends of the frame of the cutter-head can be fitted and secured by bolts ZZ.

In planing small stuff, such as can pass under the cutter-head when it is attached to the original standards B, I do not use the supplemental uprights; but when a piece of timber is to be planed which is too large to pass under the cutter-head when thus mounted, I detach the cutter-head from the standards B and secure it to the supplemental standards H. In this case the bonnet with its presser-rolls and other attachments are not required, as the weight of the large timber is sufficient to keep it down on the carriage. The same drivingbelts will answer for driving the cutter-head when it is attached to either of the standards. To adjust the timber to the cutter-head so that it will be in the proper position for planing, I block it up on the carriage until its upper face is brought to the desired position, thereby adjusting the timber t0 the head, instead of the head to the timber.

R R, in Fig. 2, shows the blocks upon which the large timber S rests. These blocks are temporary, and can be removed and others of a differentthicliness substituted for them, according to the necessities ofthe case.

By this means I render the medium or small sized planing-machine capable ot' doing large Work, so that comparatively inexpensive and light-running machines will do the Werl; of the largest and most costly machines, and at the same time the supplemental standards, when applied in the particular manner herein represented, form braces that greatly benelit the machine under all circumstances by makingit more steady and permanent.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. A planing-mill having two sets of standards, the shorter having an adjustable support for the cutter-head, and the longer having a single seat for supporting; the cutter-head, and adjusting-blocks resting' upon the carriage, combined With suitable framing, substantially as set forth.

2. In a planing-machine having uprights attaclied to the framing, an d adrivingpulley located betivecn the pairs ot uprights in such a position asto allow the same belt to work either cutter-head, the elevated braces describedjoining the higher uprights on either side, and spreading,` outward and upward and finding attachment tothe beams in the building above for the purpose of stit'ening said standards and giving' an even action to the cutter-heads, substantially as set forth.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

AsA a.. WELLS. if.. s]

Attest:

EDWARD E. OsBoRN, WM. F. CLARK. 

